Monday, 6 May 2013

Once again, Mother Nature smiled on the 124 yachts competing in Race 2 of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Winter Series, providing competitors with a glorious sunny day and moderate south south-westerly winds.

The father and son duo of Alan and Tom Quick have campaigned their Sydney 38 Outlaw for many seasons. This season, they have debuted a new ‘Outlaw’ – the Beneteau First 40 previously known as Lunchtime Legend and owned by Robbo Robertson. Today, Tom Quick came away with the Division B win.

“The new boat is a joy to sail – it was nicely fitted out and we haven’t had to do anything to it,” Tom Quick said. “We managed to sneak ahead of Flying Cloud (Howard Piggott’s Beneteau First 40) at Bradley’s Head when they had some issues with their asymmetrical spinnaker.

“I’m chuffed with the win – we’re still learning about the boat. We had a better grasp of downwind sailing this week and the team work was much improved. Conditions were tricky and shifty – a lot lighter than predicated. This boat’s a lot heavier to sail than the Sydney 38 and there are different sails to get used to: masthead kites, asymmetrical spinnaker and a Code Zero.

“I’ll hand the helm over to Dad next week – he hasn’t been on the boat yet this season and I hope he enjoys it as much as I have,” Quick added. “I look forward to the rest of the Winter Series, getting used to the boat and preparing her to compete in the IRC Passage Division 1 at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.” Anthony Coleman’s J133 Euphoria finished second to Outlaw with Phil Molony’s Archambault A40 Papillon third.

Antony Sweetapple had a fantastic day out that resulted in his Jones 40 Quetzalcoatl coming away with the Division C win from Cyrene 3 (Michael Selby) and Online (Steve Trevillion).

Quetzalcoatl had a fantastic day out and won Division C. Image copyright www.sailpix.com.au

“I’m thrilled – we had a sensational start and were able to peg back a few boats on the first leg,” Sweetapple said. “We picked a good line to Manly and held onto the breeze. There was a bit of pressure near Sow & Pigs – we saw 13-14 knots which was exciting.

“We were level pegging with Balance a lot of the race and it was a great finish with Papillon. This is the first time we’ve had the boat out in a few months and I’m very pleased with the result. The crew work was fantastic – there was some exceptional kite drops,” Sweetapple concluded.

“That was one of the best sails I’ve had in a long time,” Grant Dawson said. “We just found ourselves in the right place at the right time. We were short crewed and to win was beyond our expectation.”

The secret weapon onboard Adrian McGrath’s Luce Change was father and son Steve and Seve Jarvin. “They were the men of the match,” McGrath said this afternoon when he was informed of his Division G win. “They did a superb job in the very fluky conditions. The downwind legs were difficult but we managed to sail our own race. We had a tussle with Chameleon towards the end of the race.” Kevin Karaloff’s Elliott 7 Chameleon finished second in Division G with Velocity (Brian Carrick) third.

“It looks like people paid attention at the Rules Evening – people were very aware of each other when rounding the marks – there wasn’t any argy bargy,” McGrath added. The CYCA Sailing Committee introduced a new requirement for CYCA Winter Series entrants: that the owner or owner's representative were required to attend a mandatory Rules Evening (prior to the start of the Winter Series) that outlined the new 2013-2016 Racing Rules of Sailing.

Bruce Foye’s The Goat took the win in the Sydney 38 division from Utopia (John Messenger) and Undercliff PS Wild One (Larki Missiris). Foye will lead the CYCA team at the New York Yacht Club’s Invitational Cup in September this year and is using the Winter Series as crew training.

Grant Dawson put Kerisma in the right place at right time. Image copyright www.sailpix.com.au

Race Officer Robyn Morton got the fleet away on time in 7-10knots of breeze, sailing a full course A. The predicted 15-25 knots did not eventuate however conditions were fluky with some holes spread across the course.

Jim Cooney who finished first in Division A1, with his Jutson 80, Brindabella, was the lucky winner of the Noakes Group Lift & Stand package. Noakes Group will provide a lift and stand package each week of the CYCA Winter Series to one lucky competitor, drawn at random from all divisional placegetters.

The CYCA Winter Series pointscore continues next week across nine spinnaker, three non-spinnaker divisions and a Sydney 38OD division. The pointscore series consists of 10 races, with up to three drops allowed, if all ten races are completed. The race scheduled for Sunday 9 June will be a non-pointscore race.

Persistency and Determination...

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